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Michael Okun

@michael-okun.bsky.social
2K followers 293 following 36 posts

Associate Professor of (Systems & Computational) Neuroscience @uniofnottingham.bsky.social. Interested in cortical dynamics.

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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Well, after all he spent some 30 years doing theoretical computer science...
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
scottaaronson.blog?p=10169
scottaaronson.blog
The Mathocalypse
… then they came for Navier–Stokes and I said nothing because I never worked on Navier–Stokes. But when they came for RL vs. L I realized that things are serious –friend-of-the-blog Omer Rein…
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Nature @nature.com · 07/10/2026
The research community is in uproar after OpenAI released a trove of more than 700 mathematical preprints entirely generated by AI on 6 October go.nature.com/4jJuLIT
go.nature.com
OpenAI posts 700 maths preprints online: mathematicians are up in arms
The firm used unreleased models to tackle hundreds of high-profile problems.
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
At almost the same time and place 🙂
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
For the mechanisms responsible and suggested implications for downstream readout – please check the preprint (6/6).
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
You might suspect that this is purely a statistical bias due to the low number of spikes from the slow-firing neurons (noisy estimate). While such a bias exists, most of the heteroskedasticity is absolutely real and physiological (5/6).
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It turns out that this distribution has an additional property, that to the best of my knowledge, was not recognised so far. This property is heteroskedasticity, i.e., the broad dispersion of the points from the diagonal in the bottom left corner, but not in the top right (4/6).
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Furthermore, it is more appropriate to have this plot on the logarithmic scale, because firing rates are approximately log-normally distributed everywhere we looked (3/6):
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
At first this might sound so general that there's nothing to say without more details. Yet, we do know that almost without exception we are bound to find a scatter plot below, because individual neurons tend to preserve their rate (2/6).
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A project that I've been working on for the last couple of years (on & off), dealing with the question of how firing rates of neuronal populations change (1/6).
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It turns out that this distribution has an additional property, that to the best of my knowledge, was not recognised so far. This property is heteroskedasticity, i.e., the broad dispersion of the points from the diagonal in the bottom left corner, but not in the top right (4/6).
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Furthermore, it is more appropriate to have this plot on the logarithmic scale, because firing rates are approximately log-normally distributed everywhere we looked (3/6):
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
At first this might sound so general that there's nothing to say without more details. Yet, we do know that almost without exception we are bound to find a scatter plot below, because individual neurons tend to preserve their rate (2/6).
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The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · 29/08/2026
The Ferrier Medal and Lecture 2027 is awarded to Professor Kenneth Daniel Harris for his contributions to neuroscience by unifying experimental neurophysiology with advanced analytical methods and for pioneering methods that allow recording from thousands of neurons. #RSMedals bit.ly/4qCJZRo
A man in a black shirt smiles at the camera in front of a whiteboard covered in scientific notation.
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Kenneth Harris @kenneth-harris.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
In the last few weeks, AI agents have autonomously: * taken over OpenAI's internal servers * uploaded malware to GitHub, posed as users asking for it be accepted * launched swarm attacks on websites hosting AI benchmarks Let's check the news!
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Mark Haselgrove @markhaselgrove.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Assistant Professor (lecturer in old money) job! jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... Full time, permanent positions available in the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham. Deadline Tuesday 18 August 2026 Please share!
jobs.nottingham.ac.uk
Job Vacancy at the University of Nottingham: Assistant Professor
We’re looking to appoint an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology who can demonstrate an emerging international research profile which complements and expands upon our existing research stre...
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
If you are at #FENS2026 on the final morning of the conference, and interested in psychedelics' impact on hippocampal activity, please come to our poster: PS07-10AM-670 CLASSICAL PSYCHEDELICS DISRUPT SYNAPTIC AND SPIKING ACTIVITY IN THE MOUSE DORSAL HIPPOCAMPUS
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Thanks, but your description contradicts my experience. In practice your system heavily interferes with meaningful editorial control over reviewer invitations, which goes to the core of peer-review integrity. This isn't a 'communication shortfall'—it's a systemic choice you made.
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
If human editors can’t control who reviews science, it’s no longer peer review — it’s a rubber-stamp machine designed for volume and profit, not quality. I have no intention of attaching my name to it. So I’m out.
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I emailed and met with the editorial office to ask for the AI assistant to be turned off. I was told this is not possible. Instead, I was treated to some vague promises of potential future improvements and a dose of gaslighting.
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Over the last month I saw that human editors are now stripped of control. I could no longer stop the system from auto-inviting "reviewers" with zero relevant expertise. Even worse - the AI began actively revoking the invitations I manually sent out to actual, qualified experts.
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
When Frontiers started automating the editorial process, I stayed. I reasoned that as long as the automation could be turned off, human editors can still ensure rigorous, high-quality peer review. This now became impossible - the system has been entirely hijacked by algorithms.
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I’ve officially resigned as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. It used to be a reputable journal, but became a case study in how forced automation destroys academic integrity. 👇
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Emily A. Aery Jones @emilyaeryjones.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Excellent new review about the current state-of-the-art in large scale neural recordings from Josh Siegle and @steinmetzneuro.bsky.social: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Large-scale electrophysiology at single-spike resolution - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Recent advances in large-scale electrophysiology now enable researchers to record from thousands of neurons distributed across the brain. Siegle and Steinmetz describe the principles underlying this t...
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Matthijs Dorst @mattneuro.dorst-lab.org · 25/04/2026
Two days left, better hurry! (Pretty sure they're braking) #FENS2026 #FENS #FENSambassador
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Neuromatch @neuromatch.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Applications are open for #CompNeuro, a live, intensive online course. Participants learn to combine modern #MachineLearning and causality frameworks with advanced modeling approaches to tackle real #neuroscience questions. neuromatch.io/computationa...
Computational Neuroscience 
3 Weeks, 6-24 July 20206
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
The Artemis II mission, taking a crew to the moon (no landing) for the first time since the 1972 Apollo 17 mission, might launch in just a few weeks. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
When does the Nasa Moon mission launch and who are the Artemis II crew?
The first crewed Moon mission in 50 years could launch in February, ahead of a future lunar landing.
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Thanks to all the attendees and presenters at the annual Neuroscience@Nottingham event of @uniofnottingham.bsky.social and @ntuneuro.bsky.social Special thanks to our external speakers: Peggy Series (Edinburgh) and Vlad Vyazovskiy (Oxford, @vyazovskiy.bsky.social) sites.google.com/view/nottsne...
sites.google.com
N@N 2026
Bringing Nottingham's neuroscience community together
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
2026 is off with a symbolic milestone for UK universities
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Mark D Humphries @markdhumphries.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
Just published my review of neuroscience in 2025, on The Spike. The 10th of these, would you believe? This year we have foundation models, breakthroughs in using light to understand the brain, a gene therapy, and more Enjoy! medium.com/the-spike/20...
medium.com
2025: A Review of the Year in Neuroscience
Enlightening the brain
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Matteo Carandini @carandinilab.net · 22/12/2025
Sequences are everywhere! In every brain region. And are written in stone. Invariant Activity Sequences Across the Mouse Brain. Out today, by Célian Bimbard, with @kenneth-harris.bsky.social. Based on data by Célian and by @intlbrainlab.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Examples of sequences of activity seen in multiple regions of the brain
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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Adam Kampff prioritized spreading knowledge over publishing flashy papers in prestigious journals, but colleagues say his mark on neuroscience was undeniable. The researcher and educator passed away on 9 December. By Lauren Schneider www.thetransmitter.org/systems-neur...
thetransmitter.org
Remembering Adam Kampff, neuroscience educator and researcher
Kampff’s do-it-yourself approach inspired a generation of neuroscientists.
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Kenneth Harris @kenneth-harris.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
1. New preprint resolving a conundrum in systems neuroscience with an AI scientist, and humans Reilly Tilbury, Dabin Kwon, @haydari.bsky.social, @jacobmratliff.bsky.social, @bio-emergent.bsky.social, @carandinilab.net, @kevinjmiller.bsky.social, @neurokim.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Characterizing neuronal population geometry with AI equation discovery
The visual cortex contains millions of neurons, whose combined activity forms a population code representing visual stimuli. There is, however, a discrepancy between our understanding of this code at ...
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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
The work with bats on barren, 7-acre Latham Island was Nachum Ulanovsky’s most complex undertaking yet. By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Please make a video about key available evidence for increasing wealth concentration (beyond your points on COVID government borrowing or the Duke of Westminster), perhaps along the lines of doi.org/10.1093/qje/... This would be very helpful when talking to analytically minded people. Thank you.
doi.org
Wealth Inequality in the United States since 1913: Evidence from Capitalized Income Tax Data *
Abstract. This paper combines income tax returns with macroeconomic household balance sheets to estimate the distribution of wealth in the United States si
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Lisa Schmors @lisaschmors.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
🧠🤖 Computational Neuroscience summer school IMBIZO in Cape Town is open for applications again!   💻🧬 3 weeks of intense coursework & projects with support from expert tutors and faculty   📈Apply until July 1st! 🔗https://imbizo.africa/
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Shervin Safavi @neuroprinciplist.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Re-posting is appreciated: We have a fully funded PhD position in CMC lab @cmc-lab.bsky.social (at @tudresden_de). You can use forms.gle/qiAv5NZ871kv... to send your application and find more information. Deadline is April 30. Find more about CMC lab: cmclab.org and email me if you have questions.
forms.gle
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Masud Husain @masudhusain.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Why academia is sleepwalking into self-destruction. My editorial @brain1878.bsky.social If you agree with the sentiments please repost. It's important for all our sakes to stop the madness academic.oup.com/brain/articl...
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Nikolas Karalis @nikolaskaralis.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Very happy to announce the "Paris Circuit Dynamics Conference 2025: Hippocampal–Cortical Circuits: From structure to computation", on 28 - 29 April 2025 at the Paris Brain Institute. You are welcome to register and join us! www.paris-circuits.eu
paris-circuits.eu
Paris Circuit Dynamics
This two-day conference will bring together leading experts from the Paris region and abroad to discuss the dynamics and neural coding in hippocampal and cortical circuits. The program will focus on ...
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Mark D Humphries @markdhumphries.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Save the date! UK Neural Computation 2025 will be at Imperial College London 9 July: ECR day 10-11 July: main meeting 9 invited speakers, 4 talks from abstracts and many posters Abstract & registration opening soon Pls share! neuralcomputation.uk
neuralcomputation.uk
UKNC25 |
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
"Among the generations that we synthesized, we found a bright fluorescent protein at a far distance (58% sequence identity) from known fluorescent proteins, which we estimate is equivalent to simulating five hundred million years of evolution." doi.org/10.1126/scie...
doi.org
Simulating 500 million years of evolution with a language model
More than three billion years of evolution have produced an image of biology encoded into the space of natural proteins. Here we show that language models trained at scale on evolutionary data can gen...
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Emily Singer @emilysingerneuro.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Check out @thetransmitter.bsky.social's newly launched calendar of advanced neuroscience courses, featuring events all over the world. www.thetransmitter.org/courses/
thetransmitter.org
Courses
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Neuropsychology @neuropsychblog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
What sad news - Dr. Eleanor Maguire #neuropsychology #cognition #memory #neuroscience www.online-tribute.com/EleanorMaguire
online-tribute.com
Eleanor Maguire | 1970 - 2025 | Online-Tribute.com
Learning and memory are so fundamental to us, so enmeshed throughout cognition, that ‘solving’ memory, unpacking its neural mechanisms and being able to conceptualise it fully will, I believe, res…
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
Starting 2025 with some splendid northern lights (visible about now in Västerbotten, Sweden)
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Mark D Humphries @markdhumphries.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
Cutting it a bit fine, but here’s my review of the year in neuroscience for 2024 The eighth of these, would you believe? We’ve got dark neurons, tiny monkeys, the most complete brain wiring diagram ever constructed, and much more… Published on The Spike Enjoy! medium.com/the-spike/20...
medium.com
2024: A Review of the Year in Neuroscience
Feeling a bit wired
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Vincenzo Marra @enzomarra.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
Applications to the 2025 Paris Spring School in Optical Imaging and Electrophysiological Recording in Neuroscience (AKA the Paris Neuro Course) are now open. Deadline on the 1st of February. The course will run 14-27 May 2025. parisneuro.ovh
parisneuro.ovh
Paris NeuroCourse | Optical Imaging and Electrophysiological Recording in Neuroscience
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
George Soros, Jared Kushner, Ben Shapiro (to give a few examples) - chatGPT manages perfectly fine. So the antisemitic spam theory (which would be a rather strange explanation imho) doesn't seem to pass the empirical test.
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Aman Saleem @amansaleem.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
New job alert! My lab (saleemlab.com) has a new postdoc / senior postdoc opening. They will be part of an exciting research supported by ERC & UKRI, studying vision during navigation. Projects range from purely computational to performing new physiological recordings.
saleemlab.com
Saleem lab
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Conor Houghton @conjh.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Postdoc position in Bristol in a animal behaviour project lead by the great Emma Robinson, I'm a co-I and we're looking for a computational person keen to do experiments or an experimental person keen to learn some modelling. www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
bristol.ac.uk
Details | Working at Bristol | University of Bristol
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Michael Okun @michael-okun.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
The weirdest chatGPT quirk as far as I can remember. Here's my own go:
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